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HEAD OF OAS INSISTS THAT NO STATE ACCEPTING CITIZENS LIVING IN POVERTY, INEQUALITY AND DISCRIMINATION CAN BE CALLED DEMOCRATIC

Organization of American States (OAS) Secretary General José Miguel Insulza, addressing the 47th Graduating Class of the Inter-American Defense College in Washington today, identified poverty, increased crime and violence as well as weak governance as major threats to democracy in the hemisphere’s nations.

In his keynote address offering a hemispheric vision from the perspective of the OAS, the Secretary General stressed that poverty hurts democracy because a state accepting that a significant part of its population remains in poverty, inequality and discrimination can hardly be called democratic. Instead, such a state fails to fully honor the Inter-American Democratic Charter principles and its responsibility to its citizens, he said.

Poverty has serious consequences, given its link to inequality and discrimination, Insulza argued, offering statistics from the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) that show the Americas lagging behind the rest of the developing world: only sub-Saharan Africa, the poorest region in the world, has more inequality than this hemisphere. Inequality manifests itself in 10% of the hemisphere’s population accounting for 42% income and the richest 5% alone account for nearly 25% of the income, while, at the bottom, the poorest 20% barely earn 6% of the income.

With respect to governance issues, the OAS Secretary General asserted that “without a doubt, from the perspective of the institutions of democracy, we still have a long way to go” on such matters as the separation of powers and on respect for minorities.

However, Secretary General Insulza said democracy has been steadily consolidating itself in the Americas. Despite shortcomings, he said, as regards elections the hemisphere has made “giant leaps.” He noted, for example, that over the last 15 years the OAS has observed some 120 elections in Member States, most of them meeting normal standards for democratic elections.

After presenting an overview of certain priority issues, Insulza underscored for the 47th Graduating Class—military officers from several Member States—the need for States with policies that are based on consensus to which the majority of society is committed. In the end, he said, governments will be judged by their citizens as a function of their ability to provide them greater security and deliver more order for their lives.

Secretary General Insulza was welcomed by the Director of the Inter-American Defense Collage, Rear Admiral Moira Flanders.

Reference: E-295/07